Pub Date : 2025-11-01DOI: 10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101705
Jeimmy Nataly Buitrago-Leiva , Mohamed El-Khayati-Ramouz , Adriano Camps , Joan A. Ruiz-de-Azua
Recycling abandoned or partially failed satellites, also known as zombie satellites (ZSs), is an emerging concept that can significantly reduce the number of satellites to be launched, and ultimately the amount of space junk. By assessing and leveraging the remaining capabilities of those satellites, they can be repurposed for missions different from the initial one. This work conducts an operability assessment of satellite recycling by exploiting their remaining subsystems and equipment for telecommunications and Earth Observation applications. Additionally, the international and national regulatory frameworks relevant to the legal repurposing of satellites are examined and discussed in this paper. Finally, to incorporate recycling considerations into satellite design, various standardization approaches are discussed for future satellite missions.
{"title":"Operational and regulatory assessment for satellites recycling","authors":"Jeimmy Nataly Buitrago-Leiva , Mohamed El-Khayati-Ramouz , Adriano Camps , Joan A. Ruiz-de-Azua","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101705","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101705","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recycling abandoned or partially failed satellites, also known as zombie satellites (ZSs), is an emerging concept that can significantly reduce the number of satellites to be launched, and ultimately the amount of space junk. By assessing and leveraging the remaining capabilities of those satellites, they can be repurposed for missions different from the initial one. This work conducts an operability assessment of satellite recycling by exploiting their remaining subsystems and equipment for telecommunications and Earth Observation applications. Additionally, the international and national regulatory frameworks relevant to the legal repurposing of satellites are examined and discussed in this paper. Finally, to incorporate recycling considerations into satellite design, various standardization approaches are discussed for future satellite missions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 101705"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145645515","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-01DOI: 10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101710
Mikko Punnala, Santeri Punnala, Arto Ojala, Heidi Kuusniemi
{"title":"Navigating the space frontier: Insights into the current state and future potential of the space economy","authors":"Mikko Punnala, Santeri Punnala, Arto Ojala, Heidi Kuusniemi","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101710","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101710","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 101710"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145645510","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-01DOI: 10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101712
Sven Modell
Space mining, or the prospecting for and extraction of minerals and other resources from celestial bodies, has emerged as an integral part of the “New Space” economy and has been extensively debated and researched in the space literature. Responding to recent calls for management and organisation scholars to take greater interest in this economy, this paper advances a theoretical framework that conceptualises space mining as an emerging organisational field. In contrast to much prior research, which has debated what might constitute appropriate governance regimes for this field, this directs our attention to how such regimes may be institutionalised as the field continues to evolve over time. To make sense of such processes of institutionalisation, I mobilise an institutional logics perspective. Three institutional logics, centred on concerns with entrepreneurialism, sustainability and regulation, are identified. I also examine how the interplay between these logics has shaped the field of space mining to date and how they may be expected to affect future trajectories of change. I discuss the implications of my observations for future research on space mining as well as the institutional logics perspective.
{"title":"Space mining as an emerging organisational field: An institutional logics perspective","authors":"Sven Modell","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101712","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101712","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Space mining, or the prospecting for and extraction of minerals and other resources from celestial bodies, has emerged as an integral part of the “New Space” economy and has been extensively debated and researched in the space literature. Responding to recent calls for management and organisation scholars to take greater interest in this economy, this paper advances a theoretical framework that conceptualises space mining as an emerging organisational field. In contrast to much prior research, which has debated what might constitute appropriate governance regimes for this field, this directs our attention to how such regimes may be institutionalised as the field continues to evolve over time. To make sense of such processes of institutionalisation, I mobilise an institutional logics perspective. Three institutional logics, centred on concerns with entrepreneurialism, sustainability and regulation, are identified. I also examine how the interplay between these logics has shaped the field of space mining to date and how they may be expected to affect future trajectories of change. I discuss the implications of my observations for future research on space mining as well as the institutional logics perspective.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 101712"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145645511","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-01DOI: 10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101709
Edward Oughton , Erica L. Weir , Jeffrey C. Dobereiner , Phoebe W. Wetherbee , Gregory W. Heckler
What will NASA's future communications demand and expenditure look like, in a paradigm where space policy encourages maximum private sector involvement? In this paper we consider this question, as NASA moves towards commercial procurement for Direct-To-Earth and Space Relay communication services. We develop a new quantitative Techno-Economic Assessment (TEA) model capable of evaluating the incremental cost over time to NASA of utilizing commercial communication services, for different mission and market scenarios. We find that current and future NASA demand could be viably procured from commercial services, with the potential to reduce cost using non-exclusive networks and the sharing of fixed costs. However, there is a key trade-off identified between maximizing economies of scale benefits and ensuring sufficient contracting competition between communication providers to avoid collusion and excessive pricing. For example, procuring contracts from 1 to 2 providers would maximize scale economies, whereas procuring contracts from 5 to 6 providers would maximize competition. Given this context, it would be prudent to seek to award service contracts for 3–4 providers to optimize economies of scale benefits, while mitigating possible market collusion. These recommendations enable NASA to successfully achieve its scientific mission over the next decade, while managing limited financial and networking resources.
{"title":"Assessing Commercialization Strategies for Evolving Network Demand (ASCEND) in the NASA Space Communications and Navigation (SCaN) program","authors":"Edward Oughton , Erica L. Weir , Jeffrey C. Dobereiner , Phoebe W. Wetherbee , Gregory W. Heckler","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101709","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101709","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div><span>What will NASA's future communications demand and expenditure look like, in a paradigm where space policy<span><span><span> encourages maximum private sector involvement? In this paper we consider this question, as </span>NASA moves towards commercial procurement for Direct-To-Earth and Space Relay communication services. We develop a new quantitative Techno-Economic Assessment (TEA) model capable of evaluating the incremental cost over time to NASA of utilizing commercial communication services, for different mission and market scenarios. We find that current and future NASA demand could be viably procured from commercial services, with the potential to reduce cost using non-exclusive networks and the sharing of </span>fixed costs<span>. However, there is a key trade-off identified between maximizing economies of scale<span> benefits and ensuring sufficient contracting competition between communication providers to avoid collusion and excessive pricing. For example, procuring contracts from 1 to 2 providers would maximize </span></span></span></span>scale economies, whereas procuring contracts from 5 to 6 providers would maximize competition. Given this context, it would be prudent to seek to award service contracts for 3–4 providers to optimize economies of scale benefits, while mitigating possible market collusion. These recommendations enable NASA to successfully achieve its scientific mission over the next decade, while managing limited financial and networking resources.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 101709"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145645514","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-01DOI: 10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101708
Ayelet Weizman
The "New Space" era broadens the scope of Space Education beyond its traditional focus on Astronomy. In this new era, Space Education involves more aspects than Astronomy and even STEM. Space may serve as a context for cultivating 21st-century skills across disciplines, such as problem-solving skills, and for developing interpersonal skills such as resilience and coping with uncertainty. Moreover, the new narrative of space education should emphasize the interconnectedness of space with our daily lives and the possibility that everyone has to be a part of it. This new emphasis is relevant to education at all age levels, but is especially important in the context of teacher training. While the ideas of interdisciplinary connections and focus on skills have been previously suggested in K-12 contexts (e.g. Rosu& Ceobanu, 2023), this commentary proposes a paradigm shift in Space Education for teachers - transitioning from focus on Astronomy to an interdisciplinary approach that integrates space-related topics with digital and technological literacy, particularly Computational Thinking. By adopting this new paradigm, Space Education can serve as a contextual framework for teacher Educational-Technology studies, and, as a result, influence the students of these teachers to develop essential 21st-century skills required to address future global challenges. The paper advocates interdisciplinary learning centered around real-world space applications and global issues, while simultaneously building digital competencies. Insights from a case study are provided to illustrate practical strategies for bridging this paradigm shift within teacher education programs.
{"title":"A new paradigm for space education","authors":"Ayelet Weizman","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101708","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101708","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The \"New Space\" era broadens the scope of Space Education beyond its traditional focus on Astronomy. In this new era, Space Education involves more aspects than Astronomy and even STEM. Space may serve as a context for cultivating 21st-century skills across disciplines, such as problem-solving skills, and for developing interpersonal skills such as resilience and coping with uncertainty. Moreover, the new narrative of space education should emphasize the interconnectedness of space with our daily lives and the possibility that everyone has to be a part of it. This new emphasis is relevant to education at all age levels, but is especially important in the context of teacher training. While the ideas of interdisciplinary connections and focus on skills have been previously suggested in K-12 contexts (e.g. Rosu& Ceobanu, 2023), this commentary proposes a paradigm shift in Space Education for teachers - transitioning from focus on Astronomy to an interdisciplinary approach that integrates space-related topics with digital and technological literacy, particularly Computational Thinking. By adopting this new paradigm, Space Education can serve as a contextual framework for teacher Educational-Technology studies, and, as a result, influence the students of these teachers to develop essential 21st-century skills required to address future global challenges. The paper advocates interdisciplinary learning centered around real-world space applications and global issues, while simultaneously building digital competencies. Insights from a case study are provided to illustrate practical strategies for bridging this paradigm shift within teacher education programs.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 101708"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145645517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-01DOI: 10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101701
Roxanne Ruixian Zhu, Jacob Haqq-Misra
Space exploration technology continues to expand humanity’s reach beyond Earth, and even more ambitious efforts are striving to establish long-duration human settlements on Mars. The dependence of martian settlers on life-support infrastructure and resupply missions from the host nation could create conditions for tyranny or lead to other extreme and uncontrollable situations, but such risks could be reduced by thinking about the possibilities for effective decision making on Mars before any settlement efforts actually occur. This paper examines the extent to which referendums could be used on Mars as a means of political decision-making and sovereignty adjudication. Our approach draws on three terrestrial case studies—the Greater Idaho Movement in the United States, the Catalan Independence Movement in Spain, and the Quebec Independence Movement in Canada—as potential analogs for Mars governance. We recommend advance determination of the conditions under which a martian referendum would be recognized as a best practice for any agency seeking to establish a long-duration settlement on Mars. We suggest that referendums can reduce the likelihood of multiple authoritative political entities existing on Mars, which could provide a more procedural approach towards resolving governance issues between Earth and Mars. However, if Mars settlement is successful in establishing settlements on the scale of cities or larger, then other uniquely martian tools may evolve as a supplement or replacement to referendums.
{"title":"Can a referendum solve problems of shared sovereignty on Mars?","authors":"Roxanne Ruixian Zhu, Jacob Haqq-Misra","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101701","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101701","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Space exploration technology continues to expand humanity’s reach beyond Earth, and even more ambitious efforts are striving to establish long-duration human settlements on Mars. The dependence of martian settlers on life-support infrastructure and resupply missions from the host nation could create conditions for tyranny or lead to other extreme and uncontrollable situations, but such risks could be reduced by thinking about the possibilities for effective decision making on Mars before any settlement efforts actually occur. This paper examines the extent to which referendums could be used on Mars as a means of political decision-making and sovereignty adjudication. Our approach draws on three terrestrial case studies—the Greater Idaho Movement in the United States, the Catalan Independence Movement in Spain, and the Quebec Independence Movement in Canada—as potential analogs for Mars governance. We recommend advance determination of the conditions under which a martian referendum would be recognized as a best practice for any agency seeking to establish a long-duration settlement on Mars. We suggest that referendums can reduce the likelihood of multiple authoritative political entities existing on Mars, which could provide a more procedural approach towards resolving governance issues between Earth and Mars. However, if Mars settlement is successful in establishing settlements on the scale of cities or larger, then other uniquely martian tools may evolve as a supplement or replacement to referendums.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 101701"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145645512","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-01DOI: 10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101699
Pascal Faucher , Aurélie Gillet
The present paper will describe the functioning of the European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking Partnership as well as its strategic vision in the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) domain. As foreseen in Regulation (EU) 2021/696 of the European Parliament and the Council of 28 April 2021 (the EU Space Regulation), where Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) was established as a fully-fledged security-relevant subcomponent of the EU Space Programme, the EU SST Partnership of 15 Member States of the European Union was formally established on 11 November 2022, thereby replacing the former EU SST Consortium of 7 Member States. It constitutes the operational capability for the EU Space Traffic Management (STM) approach, as inscribed in the Joint Communication by the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on STM published on 15 February 2022.
The paper will first describe the Partnership's inherently dual governance structure in which civilian, military and security actors collaborate, before analyzing the key elements of the SST operational system. The latter includes a network of sensors, a European database, data processing capabilities, a European catalogue, as well as three services: Collision Avoidance (CA), Re-Entry (RE) and Fragmentation (FG) analysis. The interface with users is ensured by a Front Desk under the responsibility of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). The paper will then focus more specifically on the Collision Avoidance service open to spacecraft operators worldwide, meant to ensure a minimum level of spaceflight safety. Lastly, the present paper will analyze EU SST's contribution to enhance European strategic autonomy in space surveillance and tracking capabilities, as well as its approach to foster innovation and competitiveness of the European industry and start-ups, and to exploit synergies between civil and defense in the SSA domain.
{"title":"European Union space surveillance and tracking: State of affairs in 2025 and strategic vision","authors":"Pascal Faucher , Aurélie Gillet","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101699","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101699","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The present paper will describe the functioning of the European Union Space Surveillance and Tracking Partnership as well as its strategic vision in the Space Situational Awareness (SSA) domain. As foreseen in Regulation (EU) 2021/696 of the European Parliament and the Council of 28 April 2021 (the EU Space Regulation), where Space Surveillance and Tracking (SST) was established as a fully-fledged security-relevant subcomponent of the EU Space Programme, the EU SST Partnership of 15 Member States of the European Union was formally established on 11 November 2022, thereby replacing the former EU SST Consortium of 7 Member States. It constitutes the operational capability for the EU Space Traffic Management (STM) approach, as inscribed in the Joint Communication by the European Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on STM published on 15 February 2022.</div><div>The paper will first describe the Partnership's inherently dual governance structure in which civilian, military and security actors collaborate, before analyzing the key elements of the SST operational system. The latter includes a network of sensors, a European database, data processing capabilities, a European catalogue, as well as three services: Collision Avoidance (CA), Re-Entry (RE) and Fragmentation (FG) analysis. The interface with users is ensured by a Front Desk under the responsibility of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA). The paper will then focus more specifically on the Collision Avoidance service open to spacecraft operators worldwide, meant to ensure a minimum level of spaceflight safety. Lastly, the present paper will analyze EU SST's contribution to enhance European strategic autonomy in space surveillance and tracking capabilities, as well as its approach to foster innovation and competitiveness of the European industry and start-ups, and to exploit synergies between civil and defense in the SSA domain.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 101699"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145645509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-01DOI: 10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101703
Peter Howson
This paper argues that space-related STEM initiatives are forming part of a calculative neoliberal governance strategy to promote desirable conduct and manage resistance to private sector space developments. The paper positions NewSpace as a new form of power and knowledge, with STEM education constituting part of a regime of practices used to govern human activities in space in the interests of private corporations. This governance strategy is discussed through three interrelated STEM objectives, including 1) education and inclusion, 2) employability, and 3) encouraging local economic development. In doing so, the paper considers how NewSpace-related STEM programmes are used to ‘colonise the future’: asserting a libertarian capitalist vision for humanity in space whilst legitimising speculative activities here on Earth. In promoting such agendas, local curricular and pedagogical practices, I argue, may become more influenced by these powerful economic interests rather than wider concerns for the public good.
{"title":"STEM Wars: Winning hearts and minds for private sector ‘NewSpace’ industries","authors":"Peter Howson","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101703","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101703","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper argues that space-related STEM initiatives are forming part of a calculative neoliberal governance strategy to promote desirable conduct and manage resistance to private sector space developments. The paper positions NewSpace as a new form of power and knowledge, with STEM education constituting part of a regime of practices used to govern human activities in space in the interests of private corporations. This governance strategy is discussed through three interrelated STEM objectives, including 1) education and inclusion, 2) employability, and 3) encouraging local economic development. In doing so, the paper considers how NewSpace-related STEM programmes are used to ‘colonise the future’: asserting a libertarian capitalist vision for humanity in space whilst legitimising speculative activities here on Earth. In promoting such agendas, local curricular and pedagogical practices, I argue, may become more influenced by these powerful economic interests rather than wider concerns for the public good.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 101703"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145645516","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-01DOI: 10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101704
Pieter van Nes
This paper introduces and analyses a novel framework composed of Space, Sustainability, and Regionalism (SSR), examining its relevance to space policy. The SSR framework is presented as a triangular model—an analytical construct that captures the interplay between space, sustainability, and regionalism, and enables systematic comparison of regional approaches. The paper validates the framework as a strategic model with examples from European space programmes, such as Galileo and Copernicus, demonstrating how regional cooperation can promote sustainability and technological ambition in space. Although recent geopolitical developments catalysed the adoption of a first EU Space Strategy for Security and Defence, this step outside the traditional civilian domain remains aimed at peaceful purposes and consistent with SSR principles. These shifts in power dynamics and strategic thinking reinforce the value of a normative basis for space policy that prioritises cooperation and sustainability.
{"title":"Integrating space, sustainability, and regionalism as a framework for cooperative space programmes","authors":"Pieter van Nes","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101704","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101704","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper introduces and analyses a novel framework composed of Space, Sustainability, and Regionalism (SSR), examining its relevance to space policy. The SSR framework is presented as a triangular model—an analytical construct that captures the interplay between space, sustainability, and regionalism, and enables systematic comparison of regional approaches. The paper validates the framework as a strategic model with examples from European space programmes, such as Galileo and Copernicus, demonstrating how regional cooperation can promote sustainability and technological ambition in space. Although recent geopolitical developments catalysed the adoption of a first EU Space Strategy for Security and Defence, this step outside the traditional civilian domain remains aimed at peaceful purposes and consistent with SSR principles. These shifts in power dynamics and strategic thinking reinforce the value of a normative basis for space policy that prioritises cooperation and sustainability.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 101704"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145645518","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-11-01DOI: 10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101707
Jesse Leitner , Mark Porter
The traditional space community has established a set of building blocks over the decades since the early successes in Earth-orbiting systems, planetary systems, and lunar exploration. These building blocks have worked to displace much of the innovation, critical thinking, and hardcore engineering with rules and restrictions that have been passed on from generation to generation. This is not to say that creativity and ingenuity have been removed, but the energy has largely gone to doing the best with highly constrained building blocks rather than making use of the best available technology and manufacturing to develop the most advanced, capable, and reliable systems achievable. Many products, practices, and materials have formed the core of these building blocks, while extensive use and misuse of terminology have been tools to limit the excursions from their use. These limitations have contributed to a growing problem today within the space community of stifled innovation and severe cost and development time growth by forcing the continued use of outdated technology, products, and manufacturing processes. This paper will focus on the terminology aspect of this problem to promote awareness to the space community to avoid continuing down a path that will ultimately make traditional space organizations obsolete.
{"title":"The first step to modernize the assurance of space electronics: terminology","authors":"Jesse Leitner , Mark Porter","doi":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101707","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.spacepol.2025.101707","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The traditional space community has established a set of building blocks over the decades since the early successes in Earth-orbiting systems, planetary systems, and lunar exploration. These building blocks have worked to displace much of the innovation, critical thinking, and hardcore engineering with rules and restrictions that have been passed on from generation to generation. This is not to say that creativity and ingenuity have been removed, but the energy has largely gone to doing the best with highly constrained building blocks rather than making use of the best available technology and manufacturing to develop the most advanced, capable, and reliable systems achievable. Many products, practices, and materials have formed the core of these building blocks, while extensive use and misuse of terminology have been tools to limit the excursions from their use. These limitations have contributed to a growing problem today within the space community of stifled innovation and severe cost and development time growth by forcing the continued use of outdated technology, products, and manufacturing processes. This paper will focus on the terminology aspect of this problem to promote awareness to the space community to avoid continuing down a path that will ultimately make traditional space organizations obsolete.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":45924,"journal":{"name":"Space Policy","volume":"74 ","pages":"Article 101707"},"PeriodicalIF":1.9,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145645513","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
扫码关注我们
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
京公网安备 11010802042870号